The man's memory seems to be very short. I wonder if he remembers where he lives exactly? Perhaps we should set him up in the exclusion zone and see if his memory improves.

“I am convinced we will definitely overcome this challenge and find a prosperous, safer nuclear future,”

Prosperous? Aye, there is your problem, or at least one of them. Cutting corners equals profit and that is exactly what happened at Fukushima. In the name of profit, corners will be cut again and combine that with the next earthquake and tsunami and we will get a repeat of March 11.

This guy is an idiot!! For him to say that Japan will have a safer nuclear future is a total lie!! He is just trying to save his own self and make as much money as he can while he is in office. People like him should be fired and never ever be let back in to any kind of government work.

What are the proposals to overcome massive radioactive contamination that is steadily and progressivly showing up in Tokyo and Yokohama now?!?
How about the children in Fukushima condemned to lives indoors when they should be evacuated?

What about the future generations of Japanese with genetic abnormalities and cancer?

Well, there you have it folks. Hosono, in a nutshell, said: The rich are going to continue to stay rich. We will say it's safer. We will not pay out large sums of money in compensation for the damage we caused that doesn't show up on MRIs or X-Rays.

Things will remain as they are now.

TEPCO is ruthless. There's so much gas under the bridge but nobody wants to drop a match into it and create some smoke in the city.

Interesting weekend. For the first time(6 months after), Japanese nuclear experts have had a meeting to think of a plan on how to stop the leaking melted down reactors. And speaking of leaks, they finally figured out why the highly contaminated water in the reactor basins is increasing...the building is damaged from, believe it or not, an earthquake! The temporary roof on one of the reactors won't be finished apparently, until half way through next month. Kan said he ordered TEPCO to stay and fix it even though they said they had no plan and wanted to run away. Private citizens in Yokohama(250km away) have proved the local govts radiation readings wrong (after the local govt called them amateurs with wonky Chinese instruments) finding 63436 bq/kg. People are going into the exclusion zone (town of death) in trucks, to bring back things like beds. Maehara(famous for telling US govt they can have what they want in Okinawa regardless of what the people say...Wikileaks), has suggested "eco points" for people who use radioactive wood from around the out of control reactors all over Japan, to help a village. And now the article in Japan Times that sounds like Noda might make a speech at the UN, promoting NUCLEAR POWER. I experienced Chenobyl, and at the time we all critised the Soviet govt, but Japan is much worse!

I agree but look at your statement "For him to say that Japan will have a safer nuclear future is a total lie!"

What would happen if this man spoke with a dose of reality? He'd be fired just like the METI minister last week. Japanese can't handle the truth; they'd rather their population had a veil over their eyes, which is why they fire any politician who dares to say how bad the situation is. The words "stable" and "safe" are being misused, to the IAEA's delight, whose purpose is to promote nuclear power and play politics with people like Saddam. It is not a safety agency to protect the public. REality? Fukushima is deadly. Parts of Tokyo have higher radiation than the Chernobyl exclusion one, according to Aljazeera yesterday. Yup, everything is just fine! Oh, and safe too. Where's my Kool-aid?

[Hosono] said Japan would benefit “from the lessons learned” from the March disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, when an earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems, releasing radiation as reactors suffered meltdown.

This jerk makes the Fukushima nuclear disaster sound like a high school science project. The "lessons" were there before the disaster, only TEPCO, successive LDP governments and the bought off "experts" chose to ignore them.

Given Japan's geology and the perennial stupidity of the people who run this country, expect another nuclear disaster in the future. Some future creature like Hosono will no doubt talk about "lessons" and a bright nuclear future.

Sure you can make nuclear power safer, but at a huge additional cost. Who is going to pay for it all? Me and you? And this is AFTER they create their "temporary" taxes, raise utility charges and the consumption tax is put at 10%.

"He said Japan would benefit “from the lessons learned” from the March disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, when an earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems, releasing radiation as reactors suffered meltdown."

Yeah, how's that, exactly? By giving in to the industry thugs and restarting all the nuclear reactors, including trying to get another one in Fukushima going that was also damaged? By allowing TEPCO to cut corners further and ratchet up the prices of electricity for it's users? By suggesting, as you did, Hosono, that 'all of Japan shares the burden of nuclear debris' and having it shipped across the nation because the Fukushima governor says he wants it outside the prefecture?

All this, and more, and yet STILL the government is suggesting that 'it'll take time before the evacuated residents can return to their homes' instead of simply telling them it won't be possible.

This guy is clearly deluded, and so is the IAEA if they think they can take a Japanese politician at his word (with so many coverups and scandals in the past, clearly they have not learned a thing).

Is this a guy who wants to spread poison all over Japan? He apparently mixed it up with a distribution of wealth concept. Well, if this is a guy who said that, I have no faith in his statement. Forget it.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but if you want to argue pro-nuclear then maybe it would be better to look up some facts and references and take an active part in the discussion instead of just repeating the same thing over and over all the time?

Just reread the article and again find it infuriating that not only is Japan NOT learning from the disaster, but officials are already watering down promises and reneging on others altogether. All it seems to have learned is what it's known for a long time... if you let enough time pass without really doing anything the severity of some objections will lesson, and they can better cover-up the facts with less pressure.

I wish the IAEA would tell Hosono not to bother speaking until he has some ways to prove the rubbish that comes out of his mouth.

The IAEA are only there to protect International Big Nuke and promote nuke energy as being safe and green. They have been a disaster with their dealing over Fukushima and should have been much more vocal.

The future might be a wee bit safer if they could locate the uranium fuel rods that melted through the reactor. That could take years. But not to worry, mates, the safety of plants that have yet to blow is being verified even as we speak. www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20110919dy01.htm
Is anybody reassured?

Let him and the people who support him absorb it. Words on a Pc screen might make you feel good, but really we all know things are much worse then the authority are letting on and I say this after 6 months...of lies and contradictory statements, eg feeding radioactive meat to children, but not letting on for 3 months
It's Ok, fish, Milk, greens being sold as usual, this whole thing will be made into a film and it will be a horror film.
What has to happen for anyone who can.....to get out?
60,000 people protested against what this "people's representative" said, that's a lot of people for Mainland Japan.
Shame on Japan, The social bill is in the mail and will be at your door in 10 to 20 years, get your full body suited nurse to open it.
As far as disasters go.... Gold Gold Gold for Nippon

Good post WarnerBro, that is spot on. What is the point of "computer simulations"? They have their purpose, but it is and was always designed to be a whitewash, and that was Kan's goal: restore confidence in the system.